Undercabinet lighting

[Jeff Monson]

Looking for some recemmondations on undercabinet lighting for a kitchen project I'm finishing up on. The last one I did I installed halogen lighting, those lights got pretty hot and bulbs did not last all that long. I've looked at a couple of LED strips at the local borg, but they are pricey ($70 for a 24" fixture). Any input on the LED's??? where to purchase? These will be hard wired in BTW.

[Thomas S Stockton]

google outwater plastics they have a really wide selection of lighting
Tom

[Doug Colombo]

Quite a few on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_5_5?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=led+string+lights&sprefix=led+s#/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_8_3?url=search-alias%3Dtools&field-keywords=led+lighting&sprefix=led&rh=n%3A228013%2Ck%3Aled+lighting

I know someone that bought some from there for his kitchen, but not sure if they are installed yet.

[Jamie Buxton]

First generation LED lighting had a hard-white color somewhat like fluorescent lights. I thought it looked pretty ugly in a kitchen. There are now LEDs called "warm white" or the like. They have a light color that is substantially better. (However, it is not as good as halogens.) If you're going to go LED, look for warm white.

[Jay Maiers]

We've started using a lot of LED lighting in our tradeshow exhibit builds. One of my favorites is cool white version of this module. (http://www.ecolightled.com/product/led_module_super_nova_4_warm_white/led_backlight_modules_warm_white) They're made for lighting channel letters and come wired together in a string. This may put the modules too close together for your purposes, but they're pretty easy to cut and splice. Individual units could simulate the halogen puck lights. If you're interested, give them a call and see if they'll send you an individual module sample to test.

[Jerome Stanek]

I use a lot of these lights for different things. They are 12 volt and do not heat up.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110431109277

[Bruce Page]

Jeff, we recently went through the same under cabinet lighting maze with our kitchen remodel. We (LOML) did not like any of the borg or Amazon offerings. We ended up purchasing from a local lighting business. After looking at several different manufactures displays we chose the Cascade Light bar from Diode Led. They stay relatively cool to the touch and offered the best color & brightness of any we looked at. They are also fully dimmable. Our electrician also said that they had an excellent reputation for reliability.
They were pricey, but I look at these things as a “cry once” purchase. LOML loves them.


http://www.diodeled.com/products-view.php?id=37

[Mark Salomon]

A number of years ago I installed xenon undercounter lighting in my kitchen. Much cooler than halogen and dimmable. I have yet to replace a bulb. In fact, it's been so long ago that I can't remember where over the internet I got the lights (they're pretty pricey) and where I go to get bulbs !

[joe milana]

Jeff, I've used LED tape lighting for the last couple kitchens I did. Trick stuff. The lighting comes on a roll, say 20', and can be cut to length. Special connectors are used & then wired to a driver located in a convenient location. They use minimal electricity, generate no heat, and are even dimmable with a standard dimmer.

[Andrew Teich]

215083
We used the 3W LED Pockit Lights from Rockler. They are made by Tresco and not inexpensive. At the time I could only find the 3W at Rockler although the 1W were available elsewhere. The 1W version would be suitable as accent lighting while the 3W is suitable for task lighting. We have a small kitchen and have 5 pucks installed, they are so bright we rarely turn on the light over the stove. We purchased the touch switch and mounted it under one of the cabinets and put the power source above the microwave where there is an outlet in that cabinet.

No affiliation to Rockler other than being a happy customer.

[Peter Quinn]

Jeff, I've used LED tape lighting for the last couple kitchens I did. Trick stuff. The lighting comes on a roll, say 20', and can be cut to length. Special connectors are used & then wired to a driver located in a convenient location. They use minimal electricity, generate no heat, and are even dimmable with a standard dimmer.

I was talking to a local independent cabinet maker at the lumber yard a few months back and he was loving these LED tapes for some under counter task lighting on some recent projects.

http://www.ecolightsolutions.com/led-products/flex-tape.html

I havent tried these personally, but he brought in some samples and literature from his truck for show and tell, his clients had been pretty pleased with the lights, and they have some pretty trick effects with different colors if that is of interest. Also can be dimmed, and very easy to hide under the uppers or in a dado, almost any where you want.

[Ken Deckelman]

Here is what I used: http://www.elementalled.com/shop-by-project/kitchen-cabinet.html

The LED strip lights are fantastic! They do require some planning. Here are some pics in my Picasa album: https://picasaweb.google.com/113966569709555812037/OverCounterLights#

[Don Morris]

We installed the Hera fluorescent Slimlite undercabinet system. It may not be the absolute brightest but they're small, very energy efficient, cool, quiet, instant on, flicker free. We're happy with them. Worth a look.

[Ken Becker]

Menard's has undercabinet led strips for about 20 bucks each. they work great and have mounting clips included. They only consume about 1 watt each and are expandable.

[Ed Edwards]

you can also try WAC Lighting www.waclighting.com

I can't remember the distributor, but online the strips and accesories were sold at at a good discount.
but still not inexpensive. and the light quality is just what we were looking for

Ed

[scott vroom]

+1 on Xenon